A GPS receiver enables the tracking of people, vehicles and other means of transport, machines and other objects. It can pinpoint their position, direction and speed. How does it work?
In space, there are 24 free-to-use satellites that emit coded radio signals at the speed of light. In doing so, they provide information about position, time of day and orbit. The functioning can be explained as follows:
- Time is crucial for determining the exact position. Each satellite uses a built-in atomic clock that synchronises the signal with the rest of the system. At the same time, signals are relayed back to earth by a number of transmitters on the satellite. As a result, it is not only supplies position information, but also time. To determine the GPS location and GPS time, the receiver must receive signals from at least four satellites at the same time. The ability to identify signals from individual satellites via a GPS receiver is a crucial element of the system. The better the sensitivity of the device, the more visible the satellites and the more accurate the measurement.
- GPS receivers receive signals from satellites and compare the time of their transmission with the time of their arrival. Range circles are calculated using the position of individual satellites and the comparison of the times. The location where the range circles overlap is also where the GPS receiver is currently located.
- The position data received is transmitted from a GPS transmitter to the server and then to the GPS vehicle tracking system. The data is then stored by the system and relayed to the user in the form of a report or a map with marked locations indicating the positions of individual vehicles at that time.
As such, GPS tracking is based on the detection of signals emitted by GPS satellites. The GPS tracking device collects and corrects the information received and transmits the information to the user. Learn here how Nufatron can help with your fleet management.
« Zurück zur Übersicht